All Forum Posts by: Kenneth Davis

Hey thanks again! All I have to really do is make sure there is no legal issue in that gets me into some hot water with his desire to sacrifice electricity to pay off his debts or whatever. People in Starke complain about the cost of electricity there for some reason, like it isnt expensive all over these days. 

Im am thinking he is out there but not sure what harm  he can really do or would be willing to as he knows I am a former retired cop which somehow came up in conversation. He is on a Month to Month lease in which  I zerox each tenants driver license on the cover of each lease and photograph all tenants vehicles including tags and he like all other tenants I have had was fully cooperative with that. The photos are just so I know when I am doing maintenance or cutting the lawns I know whos car that is etc.  He actually did allow me into his apartment to show me he had battery powered lights of a sort for illumination and the adjacent neighbor whom I have befriended has told me he is gone out of his appartment 7-8am sometimes 10-11a and is gone until 11 pm. My neighbor who is just a retiree that stays home all day everyday just told me this last week and suggested he probably stays somewhere else and is only using the appartment when he has too. Im sure there will be weirder tenants than this guy that I haven't met yet.

It does also seem that at least from my experience in Florida, that most tenants intentionally lie on their applications or when inquiring about a rental as I had an individual text to me that 3 roomates this evening  would be renting, but now said the 3rd would be joining later on. This is kind of a red flag to me to hear that another party will move in or has that intention after the rental is first secured by his or her buddies.

Thanks and yes I do use a service for tenant screening that requires the applicant to pay for a credit and background check; now so the only concern may be what the background check reveals like evictions or one applicant chooses to lie on their application. Thanks again!

If I have three roomates who cannot afford the 3Xs requirement of this rental which happens to be $595.00 monthly individually, but jointly, then would it be OK if I require each to afford 1.5Xs the monthly income, should one of the three not faithfully pay their share of rent. The reason for the concern in ability for at least two to cover the rent is that I heard that 3 roommates could end up being 3 seperate evictions at 3Xs the cost. If they are all on the same lease and eviction must occur, then would it be just one eviction. I will also require each to pay a seperate security deposit of $500.00 or is that asking too much. I rent to every tenant on mine Month to Month leases and am sure I can be more flexible but dont want to press my luck either if things go South with a bad tenant.

Someone local to me whom said she was also a landlord, that I just happened to brew up a conversation with suggested that this tenant would be breaking the law by not having electricity and thanks to the feedback from here, I think I will have an attorney give me  a letter to give him, to get into compliance or move. He does seem to be irrational to have left at $450.00 a month rental where he was paying for electricity to move into mine and off the starting line not be able to pay a $40.00 transfer fee for his electric, yet be able to commute in his newer car (making Payments) and be able to pay for gas and eat out as he told me he does not like to cook. He actually asked me to shut off the water which is in my name, but I refused, siting I can't legally shut off the water, nor will I because I use it while still renovating the other units.  He told me he maintains a mailbox offsite which he has not willingly provided me info on and so I dont know other than posting a note on his door or showing up at 6AM  to hand him, as he was wakes early and has greeted me in the public hallway area of the quadraplex he is now in. He actually told me that if he is forced to pay for electricity he might move, but this is not a concern of mine, as my suspicion is more about whether he is going to have some sob story to tell me when his $300.00 rent is due.

I have some how gotten by with renting to mostly individuals who earn 3Xs the monthly rent, but for roommate rental situations I have been requiring each individual to earn 3Xs the monthly rent. Is it asking too much when 3 or 4 roommates want to split the rent for this requirement? If one of the group of roommates does not earn 3Xs the rent I require a co-signor for that individual, so incase a roomamte leaves, I know there should not be a payment issue from my viewpoint with my requirement but sure feels like many applicants who want to do this, dont seem to grasp my viewpoint. How do others of you handle roommate situations. I do also require each to complete a seperate application along with seperate background and credit checks, for again the misfortune of one leaving the group. Am I being to cautious?

Hi everyone! My most recent new tenant whom I had questions about earlier, did resolve a phone number issue, which of couarse he still does not answer nor set up a mailbox for messages, but hey! This new tenant of mine told me he plans on saving money by not turning the electricity on; does not intend to transfer his electrical service from his former apartment with the same electric company. I do have him on a month to month lease agreement and he did initial a clause in my lease that states he is responsible for maintaining the electric if the apartment is separatley metered.

    Is it legal for this guy to live in the dark in my rental here in Florida? I dont see how I could be responsible for his actions of keeping up his electical payments either, though I know I wont pay for his electric either. His rental  very very cheap rent at $300.00 monthly, in lovely Starke Fl. His idea stems from a visit to the Philippines, where, depending on the island you visit my make due without many amenities that we are priviledged to have here in the states. My wife is Philippino and I have been there; so I kinda see his thinking, but dont think it is a good idea, especially since this property is a woodframe and winter stills causes some cold nights that require some sort of heating. I prohibit in my lease open flames and gas heaters. Starke isnt lovely at all by the way; has a very tuff crowd when it comes to finding decent tenants from what I am beginning to see and that ius probably why my quadraplex was a steal on the market!

I also forgot to mention that this guy told me he would be hard to reach due to a sudden schedule change in his hours, I believe this happened the week of signing. I am pretty sure he will be my first eviction, "I hope I'm wrong!"

Thankyou everyone for the feedback. This tenant was the best of the bad apples for a property I have in Starke, Florida. I paid cash for the Starke property which is quadraplex that was foreclosed on 3 times by the previous owners; that probably should have been a clue, but for 28K it seemed like a steal at the time. This rental like some others of mine are C class more or less and so I call my tenants when rent is due to set a time for me to go their to collect the rent. This $300.00 rental in the quadraplex is a 1 Bedroom unit which I was the most readily available as the other units need cosmetic touch ups etc. I am greatful that he is on a MTM lease incase he turns out to be a problem. I will have to set up a tenant information sheet, I see, as the number change just seemed odd as it was his New York number on his cell during the whole year he was down in Florida. I probably have nothing to worry about I hope.